Garbage

Garbage Are Taking Control On Not Your Kind Of People

04 May 2012 15:19:58 EDT

'This time around, we were going to do everything on our own terms,' Shirley Manson tells MTV News of band's first album in seven years.
By Lauren Child

It's been seven long years of silence for fans of the alt-rock band Garbage, but the wait is nearly over. Their new album is set to drop in mid-May, and Garbage are hoping their devotees think it was worth the wait.

Frontwoman Shirley Manson spoke with MTV News about Garbage's extended hiatus and their playful time in the studio and why they decided to do things their way with Not Your Kind of People.

"We thought we'd take a year, maybe two off, and then ... it spread to six years before we got back in the studio together. We've always been a little slower than everybody else though, to be honest, at everything in life, so it's fitting.

"To me, I haven't had that much fun historically in the studio, but this time, I didn't want the process really to end. I just was having so much fun, and I felt confident and I felt creative and I had lots of ideas and so did everyone else, and so it was incredible. I didn't want it to end. I didn't want to release the record. I was like, 'Let's just stay here and make more music.' "

Lucky for Garbage fans, the fun eventually did come to an end, resulting in their much-anticipated fifth album. Known for playing by their own rules, Manson and the boys self-released this album under their own label, Stunvolume.

"We did decide to release our new record on our own label, mostly because we felt a little frustrated at the major-label system that, as effective as that can be, for us, we just didn't really jibe with that mentality, I guess, to be brutally frank, and so we decided this time around, we were going to do everything on our own terms and fund everything ourselves and thus keeping everyone else's opinion at bay."

Manson recognizes that Garbage aren't loved by everyone, and that's perfectly fine by them. But sold-out venues throughout their tour prove that fans are ready to pick up where they left off.

"Garbage has never really fitted in, per se. We've been an outsider band from the start," Manson said. "When our first record came out, everyone was a little taken aback. I don't think anyone imagined we would be as successful as we ended up being, us included, probably more than anyone, and we've never really made music like anyone else. There's no other band that sounds like us or goes about their business like we do. I mean, we definitely are an anomaly, but I think we've got to the point in our career where we've accepted ourselves and we realize we can't change who we are and this is it, and if people feel an attraction towards the music, they will come with us, and those who don't connect with us at all will reject us, and that's cool."

"Blood for Poppies," the first single from the new album, is about chaos and madness, Manson said, "remaining sane, when faced with insanity." It's sure to satisfy the inner darkness in all of us.

Are you excited for new music from Garbage? Let us know in the comments!

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Shirley Manson, Brian Austin Green Talk 'Terminator': 'I'd Love To See Some Robot Sex!'

10 Oct 2008 08:04:00 EDT

'She's a very subversive character,' Manson says of her role.
By Jennifer Vineyard

BURBANK, California — "Am I safe here?"

Brian Austin Green is standing perilously close to a car that is about to blow up. Firemen are standing nearby, should anything go wrong. But Green isn't so sure he's in a safety zone, so he keeps asking, "We're safe over here, yes?" Five times he asks, and as he continues to get no response, he laughs. "Safety first — just not with me," he jokes. "I ask if I'm safe, and they don't even hear me. If I die today, I'm going to be really pissed!"

Right about now, many television shows are wondering if they're in danger — ratings are low, even for previous hits, such as this one. "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" was a midseason replacement earlier in the year, and when hardly any network had new content on the air (thanks to a little ol' writers strike), the all-new "Terminator" show, like its namesake, was unstoppable. But with most serialized dramas (even "Heroes") in trouble this fall, "Terminator" is embracing danger and risk — by adding more stunts, more effects and new stars, such as GarbageGarbage singer Shirley Manson. (Head over to the Newsroom blog for more on what she's been up to.)

Manson plays the most advanced T-1000 yet: a liquid-metal infiltrator model who is successfully running a company acquiring technology that might lead to the creation of SkyNet.

"Shirley's good, right?" asked Green, who plays Derek Reese. (Head over to the Newsroom blog to find out what he says about the revival of "90210.") "Now I take more notice when her songs are on the radio. Megan [Fox]'s always the first to point them out, because she was a huge Garbage fan. She's great on the show."

"It's a great role for her," said Thomas Dekker, who plays John Connor. "She looks very sleek."

Manson shocked viewers in the season premiere, after they'd been lead to believe she was just a corporate executive, when she transformed from the urinal she'd been disguised as (Terminators can masquerade as inanimate objects) and "terminated" an employee — by poking his eye out with a suddenly elongated metal finger.

"Did it catch you by surprise?" Manson asked with glee. "She's a very subversive character: The fact that she's in this male corporate environment, she's this incredibly self-assured, empowered character, it makes her a scary individual [to her unaware employees]. But Terminators have to be scary — they're not supposed to be cuddly and warm. And she's great for business."

While Manson's Catherine Weaver has made a few kills in the show so far, it's usually from behind the desk that she sets things in motion — by hiring people to track down certain machine parts that they don't even understand, for instance. During a scene she shot with Richard T. Jones (who plays former FBI agent Ellison) and Garret Dillahunt (who plays the Terminator Cromartie), she receives something in particular she really wants, "to do with what I want," Manson cackled. "And I do something very, very nasty." (The episode airs November 17).

Hmmm. Could that mean some robot sex is in a future episode? "We don't know, we don't want to know," laughed Leven Rambin, who plays John Connor's new love interest, Riley. "She might bite his face off."

"Can Terminators do it?" Manson asked. "Apparently, I am capable of having sex. They've got the mechanics for it. And I can just have better sex because I'm more highly evolved. My technique's better! I'd love to see some robot sex."

And if that's going to be the case, Manson recommends that they get another rock star Terminator on the show to match up with her (after all, at one point Billy Idol was considered for the T-1000 in T2.) "I think James Hetfield from MetallicaMetallica might make a great Terminator," she suggests. "I'd like see James as a robot. Maybe there could be some robot love."

Until then, there's plenty of robot hate — what with Cameron's constant malfunctioning ever since surviving a car bomb in the season finale. "The word for this whole new season is evolution," Dekker said, "because everybody and everything is changing and nobody and nothing can be trusted."

"What's really dangerous about her," explained Summer Glau, who plays the protector Terminator Cameron, "is that she's pre-programmed with an agenda," to terminate John Connor, which Connor had overridden. "And she's going through some programming complications which make her very volatile."

That volatility in Cameron, and the addition of Manson's Terminator, have lead to some of the biggest stunts and effects this season — such as Glau stapling her face back together or tipping over a car, and Manson going all liquid-metal gooey in a guy's mouth when he tries to make out with her, in effect killing him. Which was the goal, of course. "She gets to do whatever she wants to do," Manson laughed. "She's totally, in her own way, a total punk. That's what I love."

Will anyone be able to stop her? Manson doesn't think even Glau's Terminator would have a chance. "She's younger, but I'm more sophisticated," she smiled. "It'd be an interesting kickoff."

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Are Green Day Working With Nirvana Producer Butch Vig On American Idiot Follow-Up?

09 Oct 2008 08:00:00 EDT

Shirley Manson mentioned her Garbage bandmate's latest project during TV interview.
By James Montgomery

Is Butch Vig going to be producing the new Green DayGreen Day album? Well according to Shirley Manson, the answer is yes.

Last week, Manson — who recorded four albums with Vig in the band GarbageGarbage — appeared on "Last Call With Carson Daly" to promote her new role on Fox's "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles." During the interview, Daly asked Manson whether she believed there would ever be a new Garbage album (the band went on "indefinite hiatus" in 2005). Her answer certainly got the attention of Green Day fans.

"I don't know, to be honest. We're sort of doing our different things," Manson said. "I'm doing the TV show, Butch is producing Green Day, so he's busy, so we'll see."

Manson's comment seemed to confirm rumors that began swirling back in August, when several sites reported that Vig — the man behind such albums as Nirvana's Nevermind, the Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dream and AFI's Sing the Sorrow — was producing the follow-up to Green Day's landmark American Idiot album, along with engineer Joe McGrath (who worked with Vig on Sorrow and Against Me!'s New Wave album).

At the time, no one from Green Day's camp said anything about those rumors, and, well, it looks like they're sticking to that policy now. Neither the band nor its label, Reprise, would comment about the situation when contacted by MTV News, and attempts to reach Vig himself through his studio, Smart, proved unsuccessful.

Aside from Vig's rumored involvement, little else is actually known about Green Day's new album. In May 2006, the guys wrote on their site that they were beginning work on a series of "cool projects," news that was followed by a spokesperson for Reprise confirming that writing for the new album had begun in an East Bay studio. There was no new information until late 2007, when Green Day reappeared under the guise of the Foxboro Hot Tubs.

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Butch Vig Says Garbage Hiatus Is Over; Jimmy Eat World Nearly Done With LP

18 Jan 2007 06:01:00 EST

Garbage prepping new songs for greatest-hits set; Jimmy Eat World eyeing summer release for Vig-produced album.
By Corey Moss

Last we heard from Garbage, in the fall of 2005, the group was going on an indefinite hiatus.

Fortunately for fans, that break (see "Shirley Manson On Garbage Hiatus: 'I'm Burnt, I'm Done, I'm Toast' ") is not turning out like, say, Blink-182's "hiatus."

"We're recording a couple new songs at the end of February," drummer Butch Vig revealed recently. "I think everyone's excited about getting back in a room and playing some music together."

The new tunes will be included on a Garbage greatest-hits album the band is putting together for release later in the year. "We've been working on it for a while," Vig said. "There was originally talk about doing a B-side and remix CD as well. I'm not sure what we'll do, but we have a lot of B-sides and remixes over the years, so it would be cool to see that come out in a proper package for our hard-core fans."

Garbage have also scheduled their first live performance in more than a year, at a benefit Vig is coordinating for fellow Madison, Wisconsin, drummer Wally "Llama" Ingram (Sheryl Crow, Bonnie Raitt), who was recently diagnosed with throat cancer.

"He's going through hard-core treatment and the doctors have given him a pretty good prognosis but, like a lot of musicians and [a] lot of people in this country, he doesn't have adequate health care," Vig explained. "So I took it upon myself to rally all his friends."

The show, which will take place on January 31 at the Alex Theatre in Glendale, California, will also feature the Martinis with Joey Santiago and David Lovering of Pixies, Bonnie Raitt, Keb' Mo', Victoria Williams and other surprise guests.

"I'm encouraging all artists to play two or three songs that are in a direction that is different from what they would normally play," Vig said. "And I'm encouraging people to collaborate and do duets and come out and jam." Garbage will be performing with the Section Quartet, a string quartet known for taking on alternative-rock music. "Shirley [Manson] was pretty excited about singing with a string section, and doing something very organic," Vig said.

Ingram will be in the house and is hoping to participate in the show-closing jam. "Wally is a super upbeat guy and one of the sweetest guys in the world," Vig said. "So when I sent out a blanket e-mail, I got literally hundreds of responses. So we may do one in San Francisco and Madison as well."

Along with organizing the benefit and reuniting Garbage, Vig, who produced Nirvana's Nevermind and Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dream, is helming new albums for Jimmy Eat World and Florida punks Against Me!

Jimmy Eat World, who have been recording their first album in three years in Phoenix, have only three songs left to finish; they're eyeing a summer release date (see "Jimmy Eat World Teaming Up With Nirvana Producer For Next LP"). Vig said the group's new tracks, which include saxophone work from guitarist Tom Linton and a string section, are "terrific." "It's quite eclectic. There's three or four songs that sound very much like Jimmy Eat World — jagged guitars, great lyrics and [singer Jim Adkins'] emotional voice. And then there's some things that are very dreamy and spacey," Vig said. "And then there's a couple songs where we went for, like, a Fleetwood Mac-style production, late-'70s studio sound, chimey guitars and a fat drum sound."

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Shirley Manson On Garbage Hiatus: 'I'm Burnt, I'm Done, I'm Toast'

22 Sep 2005 12:41:00 EDT

'Everyone needs a break from one another,' says singer.
By Corey Moss

DEVORE, California — With Garbage about to take an extended break, perhaps singer Shirley Manson could spend her free time as a rock critic. She certainly has the passion and the clever descriptions required for the job.

"The Arcade Fire today were so unbelievable I wanted to cry," Manson said backstage at KROQ-FM's Inland Invasion on Saturday (see "Beck Bashes, Barker Mashes, Shirley Clashes, Arcade Fire Smash At KROQ Fest"). "It's just like a whole band of 'Napoleon Dynamite' characters."

Wow, well said.

Anyway, whether formally or not (she is quite the blogger, after all), look for Manson to do some more leisurely writing this fall, with the emphasis on leisurely.

"I'm burnt, I'm done, I'm toast," she said after being asked about Garbage's recent decision to cancel their fall European tour. "I need to get home and cook some food and work out. And I need to get my life under control. I just feel like it's completely out there and it's just too much."

Garbage have been touring the world, including far-out places like Serbia, Slovakia and Hungary, since March; they have two weeks left in Australia. After that, there will be no more touring behind Bleed Like Me, an album that took several years and a band breakup to get made (see "Garbage Breakup Ends With New LP — If They Did Actually Break Up").

"This is our 10th anniversary, and everyone needs a break from one another," Manson said. "I don't know what I'm going to do, to be honest. The hiatus may last two weeks, it may last two years. We really don't know. We've come to a point where we feel really good about where we're at. We've had an amazing run with this record, and we feel that it's a good time to take some time apart."

Although Manson chose not to be involved in the decisions regarding singles ("That's the record company's sweat," she said), there are talks of releasing more songs from Bleed, most likely "It's All Over but the Crying" and/or "Run Baby Run."

"It's about encouraging myself and through that encouraging others just to sort of engineer your own life, engineer your own happiness," she said of the latter. "I think for a long time I was under the illusion that life was like a storybook. I think particularly when you're a female, you're imbued with all these ideas you know from 'Cinderella' to 'Sleeping Beauty,' and you've got this idea that somebody's gonna come along and fix your life. And I sort of came to the realization that actually nobody's gonna fix your life for you, you have to do it yourself. And it's about just making an effort to make your life good. If it sucks, do something about it."

Like, for instance, taking a break.

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Beck Bashes, Barker Mashes, Shirley Clashes, Arcade Fire Smash At KROQ Fest

19 Sep 2005 17:38:00 EDT

Annual festival has become end-of-summer ritual in SoCal.
By Corey Moss

DEVORE, California — Beck's band played the kitchen table, the Arcade Fire played motorcycle helmets and Travis Barker played Dr. Dre at the anything-goes Inland Invasion on Saturday, the unofficial end to the summer festival season in California.

While KROQ-FM's Weenie Roast traditionally marks the start of under-the-sun concert fun (see "Grohl's Nipple Squeezed, Audioslave Play With 'Fire' At Weenie Roast"), for the last five years the Los Angeles station has also capped it off with the Inland Invasion. Typically, the festival has focused more on honoring some of alternative rock's most influential acts; Devo and Tears for Fears headlined last year. But the event went slightly more modern this year, with Weezer, Beck, Oasis, Garbage and 311 among the top names — who made big debuts in the mid-'90s (which explains Cake and Live).

The '80s were represented with Madness and Fishbone, but the afternoon slots were mostly filled with up-and-comers like the Arcade Fire, Bloc Party, Jet, Kasabian and the Bravery. The newest band on the bill, however, was Blink-182 drummer Barker and DJ AM, making their public debut.

The concept is simple — Barker drums along to AM's DJing — but the execution was far more exciting than it sounds. First, AM spun mostly mash-ups, and interesting ones at that. Mixing AC/DC's "Back in Black" with Snoop Dogg's "Drop It Like It's Hot" sounded oddly natural, while Montell Jordan's "This Is How We Do It" with the Game's "How We Do" was clever. Barker played drums to an a cappella rock or rap vocal track (Dre's "The Next Episode" was brilliant), or he added multiple layers and fills to the existing beats — regardless, he was constantly banging away, and dripped with sweat after the 30-minute set. "I literally go jogging and stuff to stay in shape for this," he said backstage.

On a beautiful 80-degree afternoon, the sold-out audience at the Hyundai Pavilion came early, but didn't get fully to its feet until local favorites 311, Beck and Weezer hit the stage.

Culling mostly from their first few albums, 311 maintained a high-energy vibe capped by a group drumline. Beck also got creative with percussion, when his band returned after an acoustic set to sit around a kitchen table and beat on the various glasses and dishes with silverware.

Beck split time between his new Guero, including a funkified rendition of "Black Tambourine," complete with a breakdancer (straight out of Fatboy Slim's "Praise You" video — but with a tambourine, of course), and older hits like "Loser" and "Devil's Haircut," which he reinvented by twisting and turning in different directions (a little country here, a little soul there).

Weezer played a pure greatest-hits set, seamlessly transitioning from "My Name Is Jonas" to "We Are All on Drugs" to "Buddy Holly." At one point, drummer Pat Wilson grabbed a guitar to rip through the end of Queen's "We Will Rock You," prompting the rest of the band to share his drums.

After frontman Rivers Cuomo, hardly recognizable sans glasses, strummed an acoustic "Holiday in the Sun" from the middle of the venue, the rest of Weezer returned for "Undone (The Sweater Song)," during which a fan was brought up onstage to play the guitar part.

Between Live's Ed Kowalczyk, the Bravery's Sam Endicott (who wore the black suit and eye shadow as usual, despite promising shorts and a Hawaiian shirt backstage) and Oasis' Liam Gallagher, the Inland Invasion stage certainly saw its share of dynamic frontmen. Taking the cake, however, was the fest's only frontwoman, Garbage's Shirley Manson.

With her bright-red lipstick (and hair!) clashing with her black denim skirt, black net stockings and black leather boots, Manson shook, spun and slithered around to hit after hit. During the instrumental breaks in "Bad Boyfriend," she stared into the crowd and moaned. And later, she jumped off the stage and ran through the aisles, singing the entire time.

Also spreading their show past the stage was the Arcade Fire, whose guitarist literally dove over the barricade to get closer to fans. And that was hardly noticeable during their frenetic set, which began with a simple French horn playing the opening notes of "Wake Up," but quickly exploded into a small army of multi-instrumentalists tearing into the music and screaming the words to song after song. (Even bandmembers with microphones sang along.)

The band's Régine Chassagne was entertaining enough on her own, jumping from piano to drums to xylophone, and miming her way around an invisible box as she sang "Haiti."

Due to heavy early traffic, the Arcade Fire arrived (with gear) just minutes before showtime and dealt with technical difficulties for much of the set. But it was all for the better for the audience, who got to watch them destroy their instruments after the last song.

Hey, what better way to end the season?

For more sights and stories from concerts around the country, check out MTV News Tour Reports.

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Photos: The KROQ Inland Invasion 5 - 09.18.2005

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Snoop, Chili Peppers Planning Onstage Mash-Up For AmsterJam

31 May 2005 14:54:00 EDT

Garbage, Mos Def and Fat Joe also slated for August 20 concert in New York.
By Gil Kaufman

Whether you like funk with a little bit of rapping, or rapping with a dose of funk, the first-ever AmsterJam promises to satisfy your musical needs.

The August 20 show on Randall's Island in New York is billing itself as the biggest mash-up concert ever, with a bill topped by an onstage collabo between the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Snoop Dogg.

"Snoop and the Chili Peppers together at AmsterJam is gonna be off the hook," Snoop said in a statement. "We are going to light up the stage, giving the crowd a show like they've never seen before."

The day-long festival will be curated by Parliament/ Funkadelic bassist Bootsy Collins. Other featured mash-ups include 311, Garbage, Mos Def and Fat Joe, as well as two "major" Latin performers that organizers said will be announced shortly.

Each artist will perform their own set and then hook up with one of the other acts on the bill for an on-the-spot mash-up. Other distractions will include the Green Light District, an Amsterdam-themed area with additional stages for emerging artists, a film tent and lounge areas.

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Foo Fighters, Good Charlotte Usher In Summer Concert Season

16 May 2005 18:16:00 EDT

HFStival kicks things off with bill including Coldplay, Billy Idol, Garbage.
By Robert Mancini

BALTIMORE — If you find yourself surrounded by 40,000 fans, 40 bands, three stages and 85 degrees, you've apparently waded chest-deep into the summer concert season.

(Click here for photos.)

For years, folks east of the Mississippi have welcomed the start of that season at the HFStival, now staged in Baltimore after thriving for 15 years as a Washington, D.C., staple. Quite a bit's changed since WHFS-FM started ushering in the arrival of summer — most notably the station itself, which disappeared from the dial earlier this year. It has since resurfaced as an online entity and also takes over Baltimore's Live 105.7 on nights and weekends.

What hasn't changed, however, is a beefy lineup — Foo Fighters, Coldplay, Good Charlotte, Billy Idol, Garbage, the Bravery, Sum 41 and others — and a first chance to get a true taste of rock the big stadium way. The summer concert season started early Saturday morning in a parking lot two blocks away from the M&T Bank Stadium but found its motto inside, when New York Dolls guitarist Sylvain Sylvain urged, "If you wanna sing, then sing. If you wanna dance, then dance. If you wanna f---, then f---." Yes, the signs of summer were everywhere, as you'll see.

10:35 a.m. - First tailgating of the season: Sure, it's going to be a long day, but it wouldn't be summer without making it even longer. Grills were fired up, coolers were fully stocked and car stereos were fully cranked, churning out Foo Fighters, Billy Idol, Good Charlotte and the day's other big draws.



	Foos, Coldplay, Good Charlotte play HFStival

10:56 a.m. - First awkward sponsorship of the season: Amid gyro vendors and funnel cake booths loomed a 15-foot tall inflatable Marine towering above a recruitment stand. "Well, it was either the Marines or a henna tattoo, so I decided to enlist."

11:02 a.m. - First "brunch set" of the season: Nothing goes better with bagels than rap-rock, so Baltimore's own Thirdkind hit the HFS local stage, officially kicking off the show.

12:14 p.m. - First beach ball of the season: The waiting is the hardest part, and as the sun-soaked crowd waited for the Bravery to take the stage, a red beach ball helped fans pass the time. By the time the Bravery launched into "Public Service Announcement," four of them caromed between hands near the front of the stage and you could actually feel summer fall across the stadium.

12:20 p.m. - First shirtless crowd-surfing of the season: A big summer show just doesn't seem right without viewing the band through a random tangle of arms and legs jutting upward from the pit in front of the stage. The Bravery provided the soundtrack for the first batch of this summer's surfers. Granted, the band's sound made it feel like the summer of '83, but it was pure summer nonetheless.

12:35 p.m. - First bikini tops of the season: Being a rock star has its advantages, but it comes with a hefty price tag as well. Image is everything, so if you've committed to black leather, jeans and black boots à la the Bravery's Sam Endicott, you're stuck with it no matter how high the mercury climbs. The common folk are not bound by such rules, so as the midday sun soars toward its peak, women stroll across the floor of the stadium in jean shorts and bikini tops.

12:43 p.m. - First heat-induced casualty of the season: Every year, fans are warned to drink plenty of water and pace themselves, and every year hundreds of them wind up being passed — sweaty and limp — from the crowd to security guards who hand them off to paramedics who get them shade and liquids. The first one of this season was treated near the end of the Bravery's set. By that point, even Endicott had chucked the jacket and stripped down to a polo shirt, sparing him the same fate, presumably.

1:10 p.m. - First round of hacky sack of the season: As Louis XIV wrapped up their tight set of swaggering rawk with the radio hit "Finding Out True Love Is Blind" (which is what you're supposed to do at a radio festival), four fans near the back of the crowd put foot to footbag (digging the sound, but seemingly oblivious to the band's ties, vests and revved-up showmanship — "If you don't sweat, you aren't earning it," the band's Jason Hill would later explain).

3:25 p.m. - First temper tantrum of the season: The archenemy of the big stadium show could easily be the temper tantrum. R. Kelly, Axl Rose, Courtney Love ... all have cut shows short for one reason or another, ending the fun and harshing the buzz. This summer's first such move came early, as Ian McCulloch unceremoniously dropped his mic and led his band, Echo & the Bunnymen, offstage after onstage monitor problems sabotaged their attempts to get through the first song of their set, "Lips Like Sugar," not once, not twice, but three times.

3:52 p.m. - First unscheduled exit of the season: By late afternoon, the smell of the summer concert season — a heady mix of sweat, smoke and beer — abounds, so it's no surprise to see two of Baltimore's finest escorting a shirtless, bleary-eyed fan out of the stadium. He is truly a pioneer, as hundreds more will undoubtedly follow before the summer concert season is over.

4:05 p.m. - First girl on a guy's shoulders of the season: Every year, hundreds of concertgoers fall victim to the plague of this two-headed beast. He-man decides to give his lady "a hand," and suddenly the only thing you can see is the business end of a pair of jean shorts instead of the show you paid top dollar to see. This year, the plague arrived during Garbage's set. As Shirley Manson and company rocked through a thick collection of hits like "Stupid Girl," "I Think I'm Paranoid" and "Only Happy When It Rains," these 10-foot tall creatures popped up in front of the stage like sweat-soaked dandelions.

5:57 p.m. - First sunburn of the season: As punk journeyman Mike Ness and Social Distortion delivered the goods, the effects of the all-day affair started to show. Thick bands of white skin could be seen peeking out from under tank top shoulder straps on otherwise red bodies, and one fan boasted a burn so bad you couldn't tell where his face ended and his Manic Panic hair started.

6:58 p.m. - First big set piece of the summer: You gotta go big for the summer stadium crowd, and hometown boys Good Charlotte delivered. The band shared the stage with gargoyles, tombstones and their now-familiar "Nevermore" arch (all the more appropriate in the land of Edgar Allan Poe). The crowd responded big as well, creating a 40-yard-deep mosh pit by the time the band launched into "Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous."

8:12 p.m. - First public evacuation of the season: The summer concert season and its mix of sun, excitement, chemicals and overcrowding can do strange things to people. Perhaps that's why that guy was puking into a garbage can about 10 feet from a men's room.

9:10 p.m. - First weather emergency of the season: The phrase "rain or shine" hangs over the summer concert season like a demented threat, and by the time the sun was preparing to set on Saturday, the "slight" chance of showers finally delivered. While the rain brought a welcome bit of cooling relief during Billy Idol's set — a high-octane, hit-heavy set that was arguably the high point of the show — M&T Stadium personnel paused the show after lightning began crackling overhead. An announcement urged fans to vacate the stadium floor, and thousands did. The rest, however, waited out the rain delay first by creating long Slip 'n Slides out of vinyl Miller Lite ads ripped from the now closed beer stand and cheering each other on as they slid through what in about four months will be the Baltimore Ravens' end zone. After about half an hour of rain-soaked fun, the music resumed.

10:04 p.m. - First cigarette-lighter moment of the season: It's probably no surprise that Coldplay — purveyors of moody, atmospheric epics — inspired this classic concert behavior, but the surprise may have been how the band got there. Frontman Chris Martin was animated and downright playful during the band's set, dropping show-specific lyrics into hits like "Politik" ("Give me heart, give me Dave Grohl" he sang before closing the song by plaintively repeating, "It's a nice day for a white wedding" over and over in a nod to Idol), and acknowledging the band's last HFStival appearance, a somewhat less-than-stellar set in 2001. Martin even got cheeky when introducing the gentle "Fix You," saying, "If you feel like moshing, take a drink of water. If you feel like kissing someone, now's the time," before rolling out the song that launched a thousand Zippos.

10:35 p.m. - First hometown hero of the season: Yes, there were other D.C./Baltimore-area natives on the bill (Good Charlotte, the Bravery and more), but Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl was the inarguable homecoming king on Saturday. Summer stadium gigs are usually thick with local references (even Spinal Tap ran down Shelbyville when rolling through Springfield), but Grohl went all ou

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20 Apr 2005 09:23:00 EDT

Mimi topples The Massacre with over 400,000 sold.
By Chris Harris

Before The Emancipation of Mimi hit record stores last week, it had been three full years since Mariah Carey released new studio material. So it wasn't unfair when several critics dubbed the vivacious pop diva's latest a "comeback" album, one that — depending on its retail performance — could set the tone for the rest of Mariah's career.

Well, how's this for a comeback? First-week sales of almost 404,000 scored Carey not only the biggest debut of her 15-year career, but the coveted top spot on Billboard's albums chart — unseating rapper 50 Cent as the top seller following The Massacre's impressive six-week reign as retail champ.

According to SoundScan results, The Emancipation of Mimi shattered the star's previous first-week sales record of 323,000 units, set back in 1999 with the debut of Rainbow. The album outperformed her most recent #1 showing, 1997's Butterfly, by close to 170,000 scans. Charmbracelet, released in 2002, opened at #3 with sales of more than 241,000.

But, as it turns out, Mariah wasn't 50 Cent's only problem this week. What's more, Carey wasn't the sole artist on the chart to achieve a career landmark.

Finishing a distant second, with first-week sales of an astonishing 151,000 plus, is metal quartet Mudvayne's newest, Lost and Found — an album that topped 50's sophomore opus, The Massacre, by just over 10,000 scans. Like The Emancipation of Mimi, Lost and Found represents the hard-rockin' band's best opening-week sales showing; 2002's The End of All Things to Come debuted at #17 with sales of 78,980.

Although 50 Cent was forced to relinquish his Billboard throne, settling for the chart's #3 slot, week seven wasn't all that bad for The Massacre. A 15 percent sales dip notwithstanding, the rapper's LP did manage to transcend the 3-million-sold milestone. Besides, third place isn't all that bad, is it, Fif?

Placing fourth, with sales of just under 75,000, is the fourth LP from Garbage. With Bleed Like Me, the band earned its first top-10 album. Still, the album failed to destroy Garbage's first-week sales record, set back in 1998 with Version 2.0, which finished at #13 with 88,000 plus scans. Beautiful Garbage — released in 2001 — opened at #11 with sales of 73,000 and change.

The prior chart's second-place finisher, Faith Evans, fell to #5, thanks to a 60 percent sales slip for her latest effort, The First Lady; that album recorded just over 63,000 scans during its second week of release. Right behind Evans, at #6, is the 18th installment of the beloved Now That's What I Call Music! franchise, a compilation album featuring contributions from Chevelle, Omarion, Frankie J, Ashanti and Snoop Dogg and Pharrell. Just over 61,000 copies of Now 18 soared from store shelves during that album's fifth week at retail. Beck's Guero clings to the top 10, taking the #7 slot with third-week sales of close to 58,000, falling off 28 percent from the previous week.

American Idiot, pop-punk outfit Green Day's unstoppable eighth album, continues to be one of the past year's more consistent sellers. After 30 weeks in the retail battle, American Idiot still has a lot of fight in it; with sales of little more than 57,000, the disc drops one chart position to finish at #8. Gwen Stefani's Love, Angel, Music, Baby is another one that just refuses to give up, finishing out its 21st week at retail in the chart's #9 spot, thanks to an 18 percent sales boost that pushed scans well above the 56,000 mark. And lastly, closing out the top 10 are the Killers and their debut, Hot Fuss. Another album that's been out there for what seems like eons (it's been 44 weeks, to be exact), Hot Fuss benefited from a 2 percent rise in consumer interest, and scored sales of just under 55,000 units.

Jack Johnson's In Between Dreams falls out of the top 10 for the first time since its release seven weeks ago. The album takes the #11 spot with sales of just over 50,000. Ciara's Goodies follows at #12 with over 48,000 scans, besting Will Smith's Lost and Found — which finishes at #13 — by less than 500 albums. Kelly Clarkson's Breakaway and Frankie J's The One round out the top 15, finishing at #14 and #15, respectively.

Second-week sales for both Lisa Marie Presley's Now What and Hot Hot Heat's Elevator plummeted. Now What lands at #33 (down from #9 on the previous week's chart), compliments of a 58 percent lag in sales, while the Heat's latest disc takes #85, down from #34, with sales of that disc slipping by 51 percent.

The Phunk Won't Stop

It's been almost two years since the release of the Black Eyed Peas' Elephunk, but that hasn't done much to derail sales of the colossal chart-topper. The album still managed to net sales of more than 8,600 during its 95th retail week, taking the chart's #105 spot.

All told, Elephunk has sold close to 2.6 million copies — and there's no question that the Peas hope to repeat that album's success on June 7, when their next LP, Monkey Business, is set for release.

A Boost For Best Ofs

While it was a relatively sluggish retail week overall for artists not named Mariah, sales of several best-of albums managed to gain some momentum. Could increasingly warmer temperatures be reminding consumers that barbecue and beach season is just around the corner?

Tongue-twisting rap act Bone Thugs-N-Harmony's Greatest Hits shoots from #128 to #95, with sales of close to 9,700 — a 24 percent spike for that disc. The Beach Boys' Sounds of Summer: The Very Best of the Beach Boys rises to the chart's 106th position, with sales of that album swelling 22 percent to finish at 8,600 scans. And Queen's Greatest Hits: We Will Rock You resurfaces in the top 200 after a 28-week absence. In at #197, sales surged 51 percent to move close to 4,800 copies. Sales of Guns N' Roses' Greatest Hits rose 8 percent, landing it the chart's #49 slot with just over 18,000 scans. And just one week after announcing to the world that she had a bun in the proverbial oven, Britney Spears' Greatest Hits: My Prerogative saw a 3 percent increase, moving more than 7,200 copies from shelves to score the #131 spot.

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